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Acapella vs. Avantgarde

I currently run a Cary CD-306, Cary SLP-05 preamp, and Cary 805AE monoblocks with a pair of ProAc D38's (see system). The combination is sweet and involving, but the combo just does not boogie when asked to play a large orchestral piece, by Mahler/Wagner/Shostakovich. When the volume is turned up, dynamics are poor and the system starts to sound compressed. I suspect that the 50W Cary's simply does not have enough guts to drive the ProAc's, so I am considering replacing them with a more efficient speaker. Since most SET afficionadoes love horns, this led me to look into Avantgarde and Acapella.

I live in Melbourne, Australia. Avantgarde is available through a dealer here, but he does not have any in stock. The Acapella dealer is in Sydney (a plane flight away). I am looking to spend A$30,000 - which will buy a nice Avantgarde Duo, or a secondhand Acapella High Violon.

I have read plenty about the dynamics of the Avantgardes, but my concern is if they have horn coloration. Also, how do they image? Are they sensitive to room placement?

Would the Acapella High Violon's be a better buy, considering the pair I can potentially get my hands on have been heavily discounted? I have read that Acapella's suffer from disjointed sound because of the three different driver technologies (plasma tweeter, horn mids, conventional woofer). How much is this a problem? And are there any room placement issues? Given that the Acapella's have lower sensitivity (91 dB/W/m) would I be achieving a real upgrade by moving from the ProAc's?
amfibius

Showing 10 responses by tbg

tbg
5,263 posts
 
I had the Avantgarde Duos and Trios, I now have LaCampanellas. I know you have an opportunity to get a used pair of Violons with their excellent plasma tweeter.

I must say that I could not get either the Duos or Trios to sound good in my room and think the bass is screwed up on both. I have a friend who has replaced the double woofers on the Trios with another woofer. It sounds quite good now.

I love the plasma tweeter but always find that it far outshines the rest of the Acapella speakers, regardless of price. I bought the LaCampanellas because they do not use the plasma tweeter but have a honk that extends down to 750 Hz and multiple small woofers below that. The sound is very well integrated. I have heard the new Violons and think the integration is better than in the older version.
tbg
5,263 posts
 
Whart, you cannot meet that price with any of the Acapellas discussed, which is not to suggest that they are overpriced. When I bought my Duos, they cost less than $20k and that was several versions and many years ago. Acapellas are relatively recent to the US.
tbg
5,263 posts
 
Sdrsdrsdr, I don't know how you can make the comment, "Anyone who has negative comments on Trios have never heard them set up correctly with the right gear." You may be more easily satisfied.

I managed to deal with the bass pretty well, but the standard four box woofers are really not very good, as my friend in Minn. has demonstrated to me. My major problem with the Trios, is their discontinuity. Instruments with a broad range moved at the frequency was cover by one driver and then another.

Also, the horns themselves vibrate which resulted in some smear in the sound.

If you have a room larger than my 18x28x12 foot room, perhaps you could get a more integrated sound.
tbg
5,263 posts
 
I have heard many Trios in my room, at others' homes, and at shows. Only once have I heard good integration of all the drivers and good bass. This was at a home in Minneapolis with a very large listening room designed for audio and not using the woofers provided by Avantgarde.

Having often heard compression drivers with horns, I only wish both Avantgarde and Acapella would using them. With the exception of the Acapella plasma tweeter, I think both companies' speakers sound slow with inability to provide the sharp leading edge of compression drivers.

I am saying all of this not to knock either companies' speakers but to long for the magic of quick, efficient, well integrated, and affordable horn speaker systems.
tbg
5,263 posts
 
Amfibius, I don't either, but my old Ionovacs burned a rod and the Hill Plasmatronic burned hydrogen or some compressed gas. I do know that at some point you need to replace something within the unit that gets consumed.Perhaps the tubes set a charge to allow burning the element.
tbg
5,263 posts
 
Amfibius, I must say I agree with all that you say based on my listening to both speaker lines.

I presently own the LaCampanellas and tried to use my excellent Reimyo SET with 8 watts. It did it best but is not up to the challenge of an 93 db efficient speaker. I don't know if Exemplar equipment is available in Australia or even if they make 240 volt equipment, but this was the amp for my speaker.
tbg
5,263 posts
 
Amfibius, I would encourage you to try the Exemplar Statement amp. I use it on my La Campanellas with great success. Previously I had used the Reimyo PAT 777. I would not suggest using its line stage which can be bypassed.
tbg
5,263 posts
 
Yep, I doubt if they are sold there. The website is exemplaraudio.com but it is not very up-to-date.
tbg
5,263 posts
 
Amfibius, what speakers are you talking about. The picture postings don't work.
tbg
5,263 posts
 
Amfibius, I have been there myself. Good luck. Is the flame affected by the amplification in the power supply?
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